Windows 7 64 Bit

[tomp]

FM11 is generally not compatible with Windows 7 64bit computers.

Most computers being sold today are 64 bit machines.

Users have to have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate and then download and install an 'XP mode' virtual machine to use FM11 on their 64 bit computer.

My prospective clients typically have their computer when they consider purchasing my software. In every case so far, they have Windows 7 Home Premium.

I tell them they will have to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional and download the Windows XP virtual machine to use my product. I can't physically help them. I'm here and they could be anywhere in the world.

I never hear from them again.

Is Filemaker planning to provide a 64-bit version of FM? Am I missing something in making the 32 bit FM work on a 64 bit computer? Or should I close up shop and look for a different business?

[Genx]

FM11 is generally not compatible with Windows 7 64bit computers.

Not sure where you got that.

We still use FM 10 on a couple of our development machines and have never had any issues. Those running FM 11 likewise have no issues.

All of our machines are 64 bit machines running a 64 bit version of windows 7.

FileMaker runs as a 32 bit app on a 64 bit machine, the same way the majority of app's still do on windows.

FileMaker, Inc. does not officially support the products listed on a 64-bit Windows platform.

There is a difference between not officially supporting a product on a platform and the product not working on that platform.

If you do have issues with getting it to run - did you try something less drastic than getting your customers to launch FM inside a VM running XP?... maybe compatability mode?

Anyway, all up I haven't had any issues with FM and windows 7 64 bit - given the support for Vista 64bit i don't see that there could be that many compatbility issues - the reason they are most likely avoiding announcing support is so that they can sell FM 12 when it comes out.

[tomp]

Got that from Filemaker themselves on the Filemaker.com site:

filemaker.com/support/knowledge base. Search for '64 bit compatibility' and view reference 1 of 3.

Near the bottom of the reference is this exchange:

# Q: My system is 64-bit, are my FileMaker applications? Is there any benefit to running on a 64-bit system?

A: FileMaker is a 32-bit application, and will only run on 64-bit machines in a 32-bit compatibility mode. Because it is a 32-bit application, we will not take advantage of 64-bit benefits

My applications are FM runtimes. I don't know that they NEVER work on 64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium. I do know that there are instances when they don't and changing the properties of the files doesn't have any effect. From what I have learned they WILL run in 'XP mode' on a 'Professional' or 'Ultimate' Windows 7 machine

I repeat my question: Does Filemaker intend to address the 64 bit compatibility issue or do I leave it to potential clients to download my demo, and have an unsuccessful attempt to run the software, and then abandon it? I appreciate the chance to work with those who inform me of their problems getting it to work, but I don't know when someone 'balks' and leaves the queue.

[Genx]

# Q: My system is 64-bit, are my FileMaker applications? Is there any benefit to running on a 64-bit system?

A: FileMaker is a 32-bit application, and will only run on 64-bit machines in a 32-bit compatibility mode. Because it is a 32-bit application, we will not take advantage of 64-bit benefits

The above is true of the majority of applications (not just FileMaker) and games in the market today (i don't agree with the "compatability" phrasing they've used). I'm presuming that FileMaker and other vendor's will gradually get around to converting their applications to 64 bit, but this is unlikely to happen until the x86 / 32bit architecture is largely deprecated. An application running as 64 bit see's performance improvements but that's largely it...

If you take a look at your task manager (ctrl + shift + esc) you might be surprised to see how many apps on your machine are running as 32 bit (including those from microsoft).

In any case - I can't speak for FileMaker - you will need to take it up with them. Whether or not they will officially support Windows 7 64 bit in their next product release cycle, the answer (judging from previous releases) is most likely to be yes.

Whether or not FileMaker will be re-written to take advantage of 64 bit architecture in the next 2 release cycles... answer is probably not.

FileMaker has around a 1.5-2 year version release cycle - Windows 7 was released very close to their last product so they most likely were not able to do the amount of testing they had hoped.... they unfortunately also have a policy of not updating the current release with support for new platforms that they don't support when they first release the product.

So to answer your question... probably. Should you choose a different product or close up shop.. maybe. No need to get disgruntled on these forums though - no affiliation to FileMaker International (FMI).

Again... if you want a direct answer go to the filemaker site and ask there - whether or not you get a straight answer is a different question.